Illuminable handbag



Oct. 29, 1968 BOYER ET AL 3,408,489

ILLUMINABLE HANDBAG Filed Sept. 27, 1965 I NVENTOR.

JOHN D. BOYEIQ United States Patent 3,408,489 ILLUMINABLE HANDBAG John D. Boyer, 347 W. th St. 90813, and Walter T. Harrison, 4016 E. 10th St. 90804, both of Long Beach,

Calif.

Filed Sept. 27, 1965, Ser. No. 490,186 1 Claim. (Cl. 240-6.45)

ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE Background of the invention A major object of the present invention is to provide in association with a womans handbag, lighting means that may be selectively actuated to illuminate either the interior of the handbag or produce a beam of light directed to the exterior thereof when occasion warrants.

. synthetic plastics, or the like, and a Another object of the invention is to provide illuminating means in combination with a womans handbag which is of relatively simple mechanical structure, simple and easy to use, can be fabricated from standard, commercially available materials, and produced at a sufficiently low cost as to permit inclusion thereof in a womans handbag without unduly increasing the retail price of the combination.

These and other objects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following description of a preferred form thereof, and from the ac companying drawing illustrating the same, in which:

Brief description of the drawing FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of a womans handbag in which the illuminating device is pivotally supported within the confines thereof;

FIGURE 2 is an enlarged vertical cross-sectional view of the lighting device, taken on the line 2 2 of FIG- URE 1;

FIGURE 3 is a fragmentary bottom plan view of a portion of the device shown in FIGURE 2, taken on the line 3-3 thereof;

FIGURE 4 is a front elevational view of the illuminating device mounted in a womans handbag, with those portions thereof illustrating the difierent positions may be moved to illuminate either the interior of the handbag or to cast a beam to the exterior thereof being shown in phantom line;

FIGURE 5 is a perspective view of the illuminating means and the support therefor; and

FIGURE 6 is a schematic wiring diagram of the illuminating means.

Description of the preferred embodiment With continuing reference to FIGURE 1 for the general arrangement of the invention, it will be seen that a conventional womans handbag A is provided which has a first side wall 10 and a second side wall 12. The bottom of side walls 10 and 12 develop into a longitudinally extending connecting portion 14. The ends of walls 10 and 12 are joined by two pleated end pieces 16, or other suitable closing means.

The first side wall 10 develops into a cover 18, which due to a fold line 20 formed therein, can be folded over and parallel to the exterior surface of the second side wall 12 to close the handbag. The cover 18 may be secured in a closed, overlapping position over side wall 12 by means of a fastener 22 that removably engages a suitable member 24 mounted on the cover in a conventional manner.

A sheet of rigid material 26 is provided that is in abutting contact with side wall 10 and preferably adhered thereto by glue 27, or other conventional fastening means, as illustrated in FIGURE 2. A lining 28 is also provided that overlies the interior surface of sheet 26, as well as the interior surface of cover 18, as shown in FIGURES 1 and 2.

One leg 32 of an L-shaped bracket 30, best seen in FIG- URE 2 is pivotally secured to the sheet 26 by a rivet 34, or the like. A second leg 36 of bracket 30 supports a cylindrical body 38 in which a metallic threaded socket 40 is disposed, and this socket removably receives the base 42 of an incandescent bulb B. If desired, a bayonet type socket and bulb (not shown) could be employed in lieu of the socket 40 and bulb B. The body 38 is formed from anelectrical insulating material, such as one of the metallic contact 46 is embedded therein below socket 40. Contact 46 is in pressure engagement with a terminal 48 forming a part of bulb B.

The contact 46 is connected to an insulated electrical conductor 50 by soldering, or other conventional fastening means. Likewise, the socket 40 is connected to a second electrically insulated conductor 52, as shown in FIG. 2. Body 38 is rigidly secured to the leg 36 by two screws 54 which extend upwardly through bores (not shown) in leg 36 to engage tapped bores (not shown) extending upwardly in the body.

A circumferentially extending recess 56 is formed in body 38 that is rotatably engaged by a ring-shaped lip 58 formed in the bottom portion of a light shield 60 which is in the shape of a cylindrical cup. Shield 60 is formed from a resilient sheet material whereby it is possible for the shield to removably engage lip 58. A light aperture 62 is formed in the side of shield 60, as illustrated in FIGURE 2.

A conventional, normally open electric switch C is provided that is disposed adjacent sheet 26, but situated on the exterior of the lining 28. Switch C is secured to sheet 26 by conventional means (not shown). A handle 64 is attached to switch C that can be pivoted into a downwardly extending position to close the switch. Sheet 26 also supports a C-shaped resilient support 66, which is disposed on the exterior surface of lining 28, as can best be seen in FIGURE 5. Member 66 is of such size as to removably grip a small-sized flashlight battery 68 therein.

Two identical resilient, metallic, L-shaped clips 70 are secured to sheet 66 by rivets 72, or other conventional means, and engage the end electrodes 74 of battery 68. The electrical conductor 50 is connected to a contact 76 forming a part of switch C, which contact is engaged by a blade 78 when handle 64 is moved into a downwardly extending position.

Blade 78 is connected by a conductor 80 to one of the clips 70, as best seen in FIGURES 5 and 6. When the body 38 and light shield 60 are in the position shown in solid line in FIGURES 2 and 4, the bulb B casts a beam of light D through the aperture 62 to illuminate the interior of the handbag A. By pivoting the body 38 and shield 60 in a counter clockwise direction, and rotating the shield on the body 30 to the position shown to the left in phantom line in FIGURE 4, the beam of light D can be directed downwardly to illuminate-the lower interior portion of the handbag A. When body 38 and shield 60 are rotated in a clockwise direction to the right, (FIG- URE 4), and the shield 60 is rotated relative to the body,

egos 1439 the beam of light D can be directed outside the handbag A to illuminate any desired object, such as a keyhold, or the like.

On those occasions when a beam of light D is not required, the handle 64 is pivoted upwardly to the position shown in FIGURE 4, whereby the circuit from the battery 68 to bulb B is then broken. When it is required to illuminate either the interior of the handbag A man object exteriorly thereof, the handle 64 is pivoted to a downwardly projecting position to close switch C, and the light shield 60 may then be adjusted to any one of the three positions shown in FIGURE 4.

The use and operation of the invention have been previously described in detail and need not again be repeated.

Although the present invention is fully capable of achieving the objects and providing the advantages hereinbefore mentioned it is to be understood that it is merely illustrative of the presently preferred embodiments thereof and we do not mean to be limited to the details of construction herein shown and described, other than as defined in the appended claim.

We claim:

1. The combination with a womans handbag comprising first and second side walls joined at the lower edges thereof, two end walls connected to said side walls, means for removably closing an upper open end defined by said side walls and end walls, and a lining covering at least a part of the interior surface of said first side wall, of a device for selectively illuminating any desired portion of the interior of said handbag or directing a beam of light to the exterior thereof when said handbag is in an open position, which device includes:

(a) a sheet of rigid material interposed between said first side wall and said lining;

(b) means for holding said sheet in a fixed position relative to said first side wall;

(c) an incandescent bulb;

(d) a cylindrical body that defines a socket in which said bulb is mounted;

(e) a cup-shaped shield of opaque material rotatably mounted on said body, in a side portion of which shield an aperture is formed through which light from said bulb is directed as a beam;

(f) bracket means pivotally supported from said sheet for holding said body, bulb and shield in a desired position between said lining and second side wall, said bracket means comprising a rigid L-shaped member having a first leg pivotally supported from said sheet, and a second leg that supports said body thereon;

(g) a normally open electric switch supported from said sheet between said lining and said second side wall;

(h) a battery;

(i) electrical conducting means affixed to said sheet for removably engaging the electrodes of said battery to hold the same in a fixed position between said lining and said second side wall; and

(j) an electric circuit including said socket, battery and switch, which switch when closed electrically energizes said bulb, with said shield when rotated on said body, selectively directing said beam to illuminate the interior of said handbag or in a direction away therefrom.

References ited UNITED STATES PATENTS 9/1959 Great Britain.

NORTON ANSHER, Primary Examiner. MONROE H. HAYES, Assistant Examiner. 

